The north-eastern end of Loch Ness is usually
taken as being Bona Narrows, where the water flows out of the loch on its
journey to the sea. The view above shows Bona lighthouse, with Loch Ness
beyond, taken from the south-eastern shore. The Narrows are
85 metres wide. From this viewpoint, turning to the right, you can see
downstream to the wider parts of Loch Dochfour, shown below.

So far, the water is still at the level of Loch Ness,
and passes through a channel which is very shallow in places, requiring
a series of navigational buoys to mark the deep water, but this changes
2 km away at Dochfour Weir, shown below from the south-eastern shore.

This weir was constructed during the building of the Caledonian
Canal by Thomas Telford in the first two decades of the 19th century. It
caused the level of Loch Ness to be raised by about 8 feet compared to
its earlier level, and it is now about 16 metres above Ordnance Datum.
In the picture above, the water at Loch Ness level is on the left of the
picture, and vessels heading from Loch Ness towards Dochgarroch Lock
stay well clear of the weir. The stone cill is visible in the picture,
curving round from the left, about 30cm beneath the surface. The River
Ness, on the right hand side of the picture, starts its 12km journey to
the sea here. Any creatures passing between the sea and Loch Ness must
pass this point. Loch Dochfour is 150 metres wide at this point. The total
length of the weir is over 500 metres, but most of the water flows over
it in the south-western half of this distance.

The present structure is an amalgam of a weir originally
constructed to provide a head of water to power the woollen mill - the
five dark objects at the far end of the weir are sluice gates where the
water flow to the mill was controlled - while the foreground structure
dates from the 1920's and supplied water to the hydro-electric generating
station at Bught. The Ness Islands are about 1 km downstream of this
point, a favourite spot for anglers. During the construction of the
Caledonian Canal massive civil engineering works were carried out resulting
in lasting changes to the course and character of the river.Migratory fish and seals can easily negotiate this
obstacle.

In this view, Inverness Castle is on the right, and
St. Andrews Cathedral is on the left. Anglers frequently walk across the
river wearing waders in this area. The river is about 100 metres wide,
and between 30 and 100 cm deep. After heavy storms the river can rise to
the level of the footbridge walkway.

This is the oldest of the three road bridges over the
River Ness, and also the most northerly. In this picture we look downstream
to the north, from the east bank, and can see the reflection of the red-painted
railway bridge in the water. Beyond the railway bridge is the stretch of
riverside known as Inverness Harbour.